Up to 210,000 sqm of modern office space was leased in H1 2017 by companies from the business services sector - this accounts for 60% of overall demand for office space outside Warsaw. According to forecasts by ABSL, employment in business service centres in Poland will continue to grow. By 2020, the sector will likely employ approximately 300,000 specialists, further fuelling office take-up. As a consequence, smaller cities will be even more competitive to attract investors. JLL has conducted an analysis of the activity of tenants from the business services sector outside Warsaw in H1 2017.

Solid economic growth and further expansion on investment markets are expected for 2017 and 2018 in the CEE region with interest rates unlikely to increase until 2019. But even though the short term outlook is highly positive, investors and developers need to be prepared for future challenges. Nearly 400 people from more than 25 countries gathered in Vienna for the fifth CEE Property Forum, co-organised by Property Forum and RICS, to analyse the CEE property market from a global perspective.

The significant increase in interest from international investors looking for the best formats of cooperation with local developers sends a powerful message to the market in Romania’s capital city. Importantly, the abovementioned interest applies not only to the office sector, but also to the retail and logistics ones.

Demand in the Tri-City continued apace. 73,800 sqm had been leased in the area in H1 2017. The vacancy rate currently stands at 7.8%. JLL summarised H1 2017 on the office market in the Tri-City.

The markets of Budapest, Bucharest, and Warsaw, in addition to Milan and Oslo, offer the most amenable conditions for both lenders and borrowers, according CBRE’s research.

By the end of H2 2017 space under construction by Echo Investment increased to over 1 million sqm, from 677,000 sqm at the end of 2016. According to its latest financial report, the company is moving forward with a number of residential, office and retail developments.

Tenant demand for modern logistics and manufacturing space in Poland is growing at a rapid pace. In H1 2017, warehouse supply totalled 707,000 sqm while take-up hit a record high of 1,786,000 sqm, as revealed in Cushman & Wakefield’s latest report.

In H1 2017, the Wrocław office market recorded demand totalling nearly 92,000 sqm, mostly as a consequence of the high level of activity among tenants from the business services sector. JLL summarised the first half of 2017 on Wrocław's office market.

JSE listed Echo Polska Properties (EPP) released its interim results for the six-month period ended June 2017. During the period EPP successfully concluded €262 million in acquisitions, boosting the portfolio to €1.7 billion.

Free office space is dwindling in the Czech Republic. The office vacancy rate in Brno, as well as in Prague, has slipped below 10%. Both cities experience the lowest rate of vacant offices in the last decade. Brno recorded a sharp decline by 2.4 percentage points in H1 2017, while in the capital demand totalled 153,500 sqm in Q2 2017, up 45% on the previous quarter and 36.9% year-on-year. Overall, more than 370 deals were closed in Prague in H1 2017, many of which were pre-leases. In contrast, in Brno there was an 8% drop in lettings compared to H2 2016.